Sked mix-up mars Batang Pinoy opening

STA. CRUZ, Laguna — After two postponements, the second edition of the Batang Pinoy National Championships suffered another setback yesterday as majority of the individual events were re-scheduled due to lack of coordination between the event’s organizers and participants.

With the exception of boxing, action in the gymnastics and athletics events will only begin today at the San Luis Recreational, Educational and Sports Village as organizers had to postpone the games originally scheduled yesterday due to the failure of the participating team officials to submit their respective rosters.

This came about as tanker Clarissa Madriaga of Cagayan was rushed to the Laguna Doctor’s Hospital after the 12-year-old swimmer complained of dizziness while practicing for her event. She was later diagnosed to have suffered from acute urinary tract infection and acute pharyngitis.

Sports commissioner William Ramirez, the event’s project director, said the PSC will take care of the hospital expenses of Madriaga.

Only ballgames like football, little league softball and baseball pushed through as scheduled as the original number of student-participants ballooned from 3,651 to more than 5,000 athletes yesterday.

Because of the postponement, the track and field events were reduced to a four-day schedule instead of five.

At stake in today’s athletic events are three gold medals in shotput, javelin throw and girls’ long jump.

Gymnastics will also begin today at the San Luis Basketball gym with a lone gold at stake in the team and all-around championship. Chess events are also slated in the day.

In another development, boxers from Pasig were barred from competing for failure to attend the scheduled official weigh-in and physical examination Sunday.

Organizers eventually allowed the Pasig squad to fight after amateur boxing chief Manny Lopez upheld the team’s request for reconsideration.

Meanwhile, some participants have questioned the eligibility of the members of the Tawi-Tawi football team, alleging they were overage.

Edward Magallona, football’s tournament director, however, allowed Tawi-Tawi to play as per the event’s screening committee approval.

In little league baseball, Camarines Norte blanked Negros Occidental, 7-0, and Naga City demolished Nueva Viscaya, 12-1, while host Laguna defeated Misamis Oriental, 3-0, and Cotabato shackled Nueva Viscaya, 12-1.

In volleyball, host Laguna waylaid Naga City, 25-11, 25-13, and Tawi-Tawi clobbered Cagayan, 25-7, 25-9, in the boys section while Batangas downed Misamis Oriental, 25-19, 25-11, in the girls side.

Bacolod City, one of the favorites in the football event, started its campaign on a bright note following a 3-1 win over Naga City. Cagayan beat Zamboanga City, 4-2, and Zamboanga del Norte over Rizal, 4-0, in Group A.

Iloilo, on the other hand, prevailed over Davao del Norte, 2-1, in Group B. In other results, Tawi-Tawi beat Nueva Viscaya, 7-0, while Negros Occidental and Pampanga (1-1) and Misamis and Camarines Norte (0-0) drew their respective matches.